Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White says his team’s scrum issues are fixable after they were dominated at the set-piece during the loss to the Sharks in Durban on Friday.

The Sharks’ front row of Ntuthuko Mchunu, Bongi Mbonambi and Thomas du Toit was far too strong for the Bulls’ Gerhard Steenekamp, ​​Bismarck du Plessis and Robert Hunt.

Hunt, who had played for UCT in the Varsity Cup earlier this year, was making his first start for the Bulls.

He was replaced in the second half by Springbok Lizo Gqoboka, who was playing his first game at tighthead prop and was yellow-carded when referee Jaco Peyper lost his patience after a number of scrum penalties.

The Bulls this week bid farewell to Racing 92-bound Springbok tighthead prop Trevor Nyakane, while Mornay Smith and Jacques van Rooyen were ruled out of the match due to injuries.

“We have only just tried Lizo at tighthead prop. Robert Hunt was still playing Varsity Cup rugby a few months ago,” White said. “There was no Jacques van Rooyen, Trevor Nyakane or Mornay Smith, so it was always going to be a big challenge.

“On our ball we were smart, I enjoyed how we moved the ball away from the scrums, but on their scrums, we could not stop them from putting us under pressure.

“We will rectify this. We might be able to get some experienced tighthead props.”

While the Bulls suffered a 30-16 loss, White believed that there was plenty for his team to take away from the game, especially as they were playing against a side laden with Springboks.

“We did not want to lose this game after such a long break. But they are a good team, they are like an international club team. We need to fix a few things, but these are things that can be fixed.

“It was an away game against a Springbok-laden team. It would always be a measure of where we are and the things we need to fix will fix us.”

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